Read MS Word table data row wise using win32:ole perl

Question

I am new to win32:ole module in perl. I am trying to print MS word table data row wise on command prompt. But I am able to print only last row of the table. Can you please help me to solve this problem? Thanks in advance.

Below is my code:

#!/usr/bin/perl 
use strict;
use warnings; 
use File::Spec::Functions qw( catfile );
use Win32::OLE qw(in); 
use Win32::OLE::Const 'Microsoft Word'; 
$Win32::OLE::Warn = 3; 

my $word = get_word(); 
$word->{DisplayAlerts} = wdAlertsNone; 
$word->{Visible} = 1;
my $doc = $word->{Documents}->Open('C:\\PerlScripts\\myTest.docx');
my $tables = $word->ActiveDocument->{'Tables'};

for my $table (in $tables)
{
   my $tableText = $table->ConvertToText({ Separator => wdSeparateByTabs });
   print "Table: ". $tableText->Text(). "\n";
}

$doc->Close(0); 

sub get_word 
{ 
    my $word; 
    eval { $word = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Word.Application');}; 
    die "$@\n" if $@;
    unless(defined $word) 
    { 
       $word = Win32::OLE->new('Word.Application', sub { $_[0]->Quit }) 
       or die "Oops, cannot start Word: ", Win32::OLE->LastError, "\n"; 
    } 
  return $word; 
}

Probably a copy and paste error and not necessarily the issue but the use strict should be on the second line. — Rob Kielty
This isn't your problem, but -- I don't think there's any point in using eval { ... } when you're just going to die "$@\n" if $@ afterward anyway. Is there? — ruakh
I tried to write the content to a file name "mytest.txt", there all the table data is getting printed but not row.. its getting printed as if all the contect of object is dumped in "mytest.txt" file — Aparna Savant
@RobKielty: Y'know, that actually could be the issue. Since the use strict isn't in effect, it's possible that the wdSeparateByTabs is being treated as the string 'wdSeparateByTabs', and similarly for other constants. (I mean, obviously the real issue in that case would be that use Win32::OLE::Const 'Microsoft Word' is not loading a constant that the OP expects it to; but the lack of use strict could conceal that issue.) — ruakh
I wrote use strict; on separate line, but I am still facing that issue! — Aparna Savant

Rob Kielty Rob Kielty · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-02T00:36:32

Not a perfect solution by any means but here's an advancement on the problem.

I used a string separator "\n\n" which produces the following output ...

Further hacking required :(

C:\StackOverflow>perl  word.pl meTest.docx
Table: Header1
Header2
Header3
Header4
Row1-Cell1
Row1-Cell2
Row1-Cell3
Row1-Cell4
Row2-Cell1
Row2-Cell2
Row2-Cell3
Row2-Cell4
Row2-Cell5

Here's the code. I have commented out some other code in the tables loop that I used to hack on the data returned by $tableRange->{Text} Uncomment to experiment further.

#!/usr/bin/perl 
use strict;
use warnings; 
use File::Spec::Functions qw( catfile );
use Win32::OLE qw(in); 
use Win32::OLE::Const 'Microsoft Word'; 
$Win32::OLE::Warn = 3; 

my $word = get_word(); 
$word->{DisplayAlerts} = wdAlertsNone; 
$word->{Visible} = 1;
my $doc = $word->{Documents}->Open('meTest.docx');
my $tables = $word->ActiveDocument->{'Tables'};

for my $table (in $tables)
{
   my $tableRange = $table->ConvertToText({ Separator => "\n\n" });
   print "Table: \n" . $tableRange->{Text}. "\n";
   # foreach $word (split/\n/, $tableRange->{Text}) {
   #  print $word . "\n" ;
   #  # $userinput =  <STDIN>;
   # }
}

$doc->Close(0); 

sub get_word 
{ 
    my $word; 
    eval { $word = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Word.Application');}; 
    die "$@\n" if $@;
    unless(defined $word) 
    { 
       $word = Win32::OLE->new('Word.Application', sub { $_[0]->Quit }) 
       or die "Oops, cannot start Word: ", Win32::OLE->LastError, "\n"; 
    } 
  return $word; 
}

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Read MS Word table data row wise using win32:ole perl

3 Answers